Text & Other Resources
Galaxies & Galactic Structure by Elmegreen, published by
Prentice Hall.
Click here
for the text errata sheet. There will also be additional readings and
handouts. In the reading room of the Physics & Astronomy Library
there is an Astronomy 418 "Reserve Shelf" with many relevant books and
atlases. You should also be aware that the "galaxies" section of the
general stacks is located on the facing side of the third stack from
the the library entrance.
Class Meetings
Tuesdays and Fridays: 1:10 pm - 2:25 pm in Thompson Physics & Astronomy
Lab 106.
Exams and Grading
Hour Exam
Tuesday, March 16 in class.
Final Paper and Presentation
Each student will write a final 15-page
paper on a topic related to the course material, and give a
15-20 minute presentation to the class. **NOTE
CHANGE TO 15-20 MINUTES PER PRESENTATION, DUE TO CLASS SIZE.**
Grades
Grades will be calculated approximately as follows:
Hour Exam:
25%
Homework:
20%
Final Paper:
35%
Final paper presentation and response to
presentations of others:
20%
Honor System
Students are reminded of the honor system as described in the Student Handbook. No collaboration at all is allowed on the exam.You may work together on homework, however all work handed in must represent individual, not group, effort. If you are in any doubt about how the honor system applies to a particular part of the course, please ask me.
Lecture
Topics
What follows is only an outline of the topics to be covered. Our
progress may well deviate from this schedule.
|
DATE |
TOPIC |
READING |
| F 2/5 | The Idea of the Galaxy; Galaxies in Perspective |
Ch. 1 |
| T 2/9 | Galaxy Classification Systems | Ch. 2 |
| F 2/12 | Galaxy Components: Stars I. Formation | Ch. 3 |
| T 2/15 | Galaxy Components: Stars II. Evolution | Ch. 3 |
| F 2/19 | NO CLASS -- WINTER CARNIVAL | |
| T 2/22 | Galaxy Components: Gas | Ch. 6 |
| F 2/26 | KBK away; "Cathedrals in the Sky" video | |
| T 3/2 | More Gas! | Ch. 3 |
| F 3/5 | Light from Galaxies | Ch. 4,5 |
| T 3/9 | Rotation of the Galaxy | Ch. 8 |
| F 3/12 | Galactic Kinematics & Stellar Populations | Ch. 8 |
| T 3/16 | HOUR EXAM | |
| F 3/19 | The Rotation of External Galaxies | Ch. 7 |
| 3/20-4/4 | NO CLASS -- SPRING BREAK | |
| T 4/6 | Spiral Structure | Ch. 9 |
| F 4/9 | The Local Group & Clusters of Galaxies | Ch. 12 |
| T 4/13 | GUEST LECTURE: HOW DO GALAXIES EVOLVE? Caryl Gronwall (Wesleyan University) |
|
| TH 4/15 evening | Active Galaxies (including Our Own?) | Ch. 11 |
| T 4/20 | GUEST LECTURE: THE EXTRAGALACTIC DISTANCE SCALE Prof. Jay Pasachoff |
Ch. 12 |
| F 4/23 | GUEST LECTURE: VARIABILITY IN QUASARS Tom Balonek (Colgate University) |
|
| T 4/27 | Large Scale Structure | Ch. 12 |
| F 4/30 | GUEST
LECTURE: QUASARS AND THEIR HOST GALAXIES Kim McLeod (Wellesley College) colloquium to follow |
|
| T 5/4 | Cosmology | Ch. 12 |
| F 5/7 | Final Paper presentations | |
| T 5/11 | Final Paper presentations | |
| F 5/14 | Final Paper presentations FINAL PAPERS DUE IN CLASS |
|